The present invention relates to fingernail treatment arrangements in general, and more particularly to an arrangement for removing nail polish from fingernails.
An arrangement of this type is already known from the U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,891 which discloses a fingernail treating device that includes a flat-bottomed cylindrical container in which there is inserted a cylindrical sponge having a diameter somewhat exceeding the internal diameter of the container to be press-fitted therein and thus prevented from displacement relative to the container. The sponge is provided with slits or with a blind hole, so that the user of this device can insert a finger either into the slits, pushing the sponge out of the way during insertion, or into the blind hole. As the fingernail comes into contact with the sponge, the treating liquid, such as polish remover liquid, which permeates the sponge, will dissolve the nail polish and the friction between the sponge and the dissolved nail polish during the insertion, withdrawal, or other movement of the finger will remove at least a predominant part of the nail polish and retain the same in the sponge. The finger may be turned or oscillated in the finger hole to speed up and otherwise improve the action of the liquid on the nail polish.
Experience with this conventional fingernail treating device has shown that it is disadvantageous in numerous respects. So, for instance, due to the pressure fit of the sponge in the container, part of the absorption capacity of the sponge is lost. Moreover, the material of the sponge may creep or become otherwise deformed, for instance, during a prolonged storage, so that it will no longer be retained in the container, whereby the treating function thereof will be impaired. In addition thereto, the previously removed nail polish will invariably accummulate at the bottom of the finger hole, that is, at an area which is likely to come into contact not only with the fingernail itself, but also with the finger, due to the resiliency of the portion of the sponge which is arranged between the finger hole and the bottom wall, with attendant undesirable soiling of the finger. Because of the flat configuration of the bottom of the container, a substantial amount of the liquid will be contained in the aforementioned portion, especially since such portion is only negligibly, if at all, compressed during the insertion of the sponge into the container, thus aggravating the above-mentioned problem. Also, a considerable amount of the liquid will have to be poured into the container before the sponge will become saturated with such liquid and thus fully operational. This pouring operation takes a considerable amount of time, especially when the sponge is only slotted, due to the limited flow rate of the liquid through the pores of the sponge.
Another important drawback of this known fingernail treating device is that the liquid contained therein is prone to leak out, either in its liquid form, or as a vapor, during the storage of the device, especially when the device is handled or stored in less than extremely careful manner. It will be appreciated that the leakage of the treating liquid in its liquid state can be prevented by tightly closing the lid, and by maintaining the device under all circumstances in its upright position in which the bottom wall of the container of the device is at the bottom of the device. On the other hand, it is not so easy to prevent the escape of the usually quite volatile treating liquid in its vapor state. No matter how tightly the lid is initially closed, vibrations to which the device is subjected, for instance, during its transportation, may loosen the lid at least to the extent that the vapor of the treating liquid will be able to gradually escape from the interior of the device between the lid and the container, especially when the device is subjected to elevated temperatures. So, for instance, on very hot days, or when the device is exposed to sun rays or is kept close to a heating unit or the like, the escape of the vapor of the treating liquid is considerably higher than at lower temperatures and the device may leak even though it does not leak at normal room temperature. On the other hand, should the lid be so tight as to substantially prevent leakage, the pressure inside the device may cause the flat bottom to bulge out at elevated temperatures, and the device may topple, after which the pressure may expel the treating liquid in its liquid state. All of these problems have resulted in a situation where the above device has gained only a limited acceptance by the purchasing public.